Review: Doctor Who Unbound - Auld Mortality

For the latest forum review I leave you in the very capable hands of @ChrisNewman1972, who on the forum this week has been discussing and reviewing the first in the Doctor Who Unbound series, Auld Mortality. Over to Chris....

One thing I love about our little forum is that we are pretty good for not getting our knickers in a collective twist over things. However if you are ever wondering what it is like to inflict mass chaos on an otherwise strictly ordered and hierarchical society then of the ways that you can amuse yourself is to go on to any other Doctor Who forum and post a statement like...

"X is absolute rubbish because we saw him take an aspirin and we know from Y that a Time Lord is allergic to aspirin."

This is even more fun if Y is something on the margins of Doctor Who like a story from the 1978 annual or a TV Movie.

I think there is a danger (as Star Trek found in the late 90s to its cost) of being too wrapped up in continuity, and the bods at Big Finish agree. They have created a range of stories called "Unbound" and they advertise them as...

"New Doctors. New Dimensions. A series of plays outside of accepted Doctor Who continuity with actors new to the role of the Doctor in situations that might have been, if only..."

If it sounds slightly weird then let me tell you, they have some serious writers and serious actors playing the Doctor. This is a little untapped corner of the Whoniverse but I promise you these stories are little gems! As I haven't done a review for a while, I thought this might be something you may want to take a look at. As weird as it is to listen to different Doctors play the role, these are (in my opinion) some of the finest things that Big Finish have done and all that is asked is that you cast off the chains of canon and embrace the anarchy.

The first in the series is a play called "Auld Mortality" and has Geoffrey Bayldon giving a performance that will tickle your heart as it is so reminiscent of Hartnell's First Doctor. The synopsis is as follows...

"What if... the Doctor and Susan had never left Gallifrey?

In a marble mausoleum, deep in the cisterns beneath the Capitol, Gallifrey's favourite author faces his ultimate destiny.
Who is the woman who claims to be his grandaughter?
Who is the sepulchral figure in robes of night?
Which path should Hannibal's army take to Rome?

And on a snowy mountain high in the Alps, the Doctor remembers the ultimate question: What if he and Susan had ever left Gallifrey?"

You will probably have gathered that I am something of a fan of the Unbound series and a great part of that affection is due to this story. It is written by classic series writer Marc Platt and let us not mess about here, this guy can really put a tale together! It has a slightly ghostly feel to it and the manner in which "The Doctor" is introduced immediately throws us "off centre". Yet whilst so much of the idea and underlying plot is based around "a new doctor" without the constrains of canon, the story very cleverly uses the familiarity of Doctor/Susan relationship to give the listener some frame of reference to warm to the characters and to care about what happens to them.

Geoffrey Bayldon is one of those actors whose voice you will recognise immediately and it is no coincidence that he was one of the actors that JNT looked to replace William Hartnell with in The Five Doctors (he eventually went with the late Richard Hurndall). Bayldon is totally magnificent and I found myself wondering what type of Doctor he would have made on screen. His relationship with Carole Ann Ford is pitch perfect from the start. As with all Big Finish Productions, the SoundScape is wonderful and the production values are high.

But all that apart, what you have here is a brilliant story that operates outside of the normal Doctor Who universe. Bayldon's homage to the First Doctor works so well that half way through you can readily accept him as our Time Lord hero. Platt's storytelling and good supporting actors make this a fabulous little tale and well worth an hour and a half of your time.

I have just been on the Big Finish site and they are selling this story for a ridiculously cheap £5 - for less than the price of a Big Mac Meal and a Latte, you can have this wonderful curiosity. And I guarantee that if you buy this, you will immediately return and buy up the whole series which is available for the ridiculous price of £25.

The concept does require a leap of faith on behalf of the listener, but make that leap and you will be richly rewarded.

For more merchandice news and reviews, check out The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

Review: Eighth Doctor Audio - Orbis

With a new year we start a new season of the New Eighth Doctor Audios. Paul Mcgann returns for a third season alongside Sheridan Smith in Orbis...

The Doctor has fallen to his death. His companion, Lucie Miller, has returned to her life on Earth, grief-stricken. Then, one night, an alien visitor arrives at her front door and shoots her.

Could it be that Lucie’s days with the Doctor are not over? She will only find the answer on the planet Orbis. A planet where all forms of life are facing violent extinction.

So What's Right With It? - After what was a pretty weak finale to the second series, series three of the New EDAs kicks off with what might just be the strongest in the run to date. The plot of this audio is absolutely outstanding and brought to life brilliantly. The planet is brilliantly realised with lots of new creatures and aliens thrown into the mix, all a bit odd but all greatly described and presented. Smith and Mcgann play so well off each other and the dialogue between the two has hit a really steady groove with some brilliant one liners and funny bits. The ending of the story isn't at all what you would expect. The story takes a bit of a dark turn which is a bit of a gamble given the rest of the story, but the gamble pays off and it's a brilliant conclusion. The Headhunter returns in what is one of her best outings yet, stepping up her campy evil a couple of notches and keeping the character from going stale and the rest of the guest cast performs really well, too. Unlike a lot of the second series, and much of the first, this story isn't too wrapped in canon and continuity, which makes it easy to jump in to if you have perhaps missed previous stories and would also make a good jumping on point if you are new to the audios.

But What's Wrong With It? - Not a lot really. The biggest downside for me is that with Smith and Mcgann playing so well together, their interaction here is minimal and I think they really missed a trick there. They are obviously able to hold your attention seperately but their chemistry just sparks when they get to play off each other, so they could have used that more to the stories advantage.

Final Verdict - A near pefect season opener and a brilliant return for Eight and Lucie.

Orbis get's 5/5 TARDIS's

Extra Info: 60 minutes long (or 2 x 30 minutes depending on the version you purchased) on one disc with interviews and a Q&A as bonus features. Amazon have it for £9.89 which is pricier than most, but it's worth every penny.

Review: Eighth Doctor Audio - Sisters Of The Flame

The richest man in the galaxy has just bought a backwards planet with no obvious mineral wealth in the outer reaches of the universe. An obscure mystical sect has been revived after centuries of neglect. A new race of aliens are hunting for prey. Why?

As the Doctor and Lucie attempt to discover the answer, it becomes clear that someone is attempting to resurrect the past - and they need a Time Lord to help them achieve it.

So What's Good With It? Lots actually. I should start out by saying this is the first part of a two part finale for the second series of of the New EDA's. Nicholas Briggs is the writer on this one and you have to hand it to the guy, he knows his Who. There are lots of subtle little references to the past that will excite fans of the classics without alienating people who havent seen them. The story takes off at breakneck speed and keeps a brilliant pace throughout with some excellent story concepts and even better dialogue between the cast. Sheridan Smith gets a chance to shine as Lucie once again as she carries most of the story (it's quite Doctor Lite), and she more than handles it. The story itself is nice and dark but also plenty of fun and the twists and turns draw you in and hook you so you can't wait to get to the end to find out whats going on. The Majority of the cast are on excellent form and you can tell they are having a lot of fun with the script, which is nice to listen to

But What's Wrong With It? Ok, so first things first. That cover has to be one of the worst BF covers to date! Just needed to get that out of the way. The Sisters Of The Flame from the title, who were previously seen in the TV story The Brain Of Morbius, get less airtime than I personally would have liked and little is done to explain them and who they are so if you aren't familiar with their TV appearance you may feel a tiny bit lost. While most of the supporting characters are on excellent form, some just don't cut it. Nikolas Grace who stars as Straxus pretty much overacts every line he is given and Alexander Siddig (who many of you may know as Dr Bashir from DS9), who works in this story as a sort of companion to the companion, puts in one of the most bizarre performances of any audios I have heard. While it works at times, his random speech pattern quickly gets annoying.

Final Verdict: Overall a great story and well worth a listen.

Sisters Of The Flame gets 4/5 TARDIS's

Extra Info: 60 minutes long on 1 disc. Bonus features include interviews with the cast. It can be purchased from Amazon for £7.69

Thanks to Peri-Peri for this review. For more news and reviews head over to The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

New Fourth Doctor Audio Series - Serpent Crest

 

Tom Baker his making another return to the Doctor Who audio world as he stars in a brand new 5 part audio adventure for the 4th Doctor, with Susan Jameson as his companion Mrs Wibbsey

Part 1 - Tsar Wars, which is pictured above, is due for release on 08 September 2011.

The time travellers are transported to an advanced civilisation in space, where they are soon enmeshed in the dangerous war between Robotovs and human beings

Part 2 – Broken Down due 6th October…

Trapped in 19th Century Hexford, the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey discover that all is not well at the rectory – and that there is more to its residents than meets they eye.

Part 3 (title unknown) due 3rd November…

Trapped in an underground network of tunnels, the time travellers help a young boy in search of an ancient lamp. Perils await them on their quest to find both the lamp and a way out…

Parts 4-5 (title and synopsis unknow) due 8th December

Big Finish Licence Extended Through 2014

In an update yesterday on their site, Big Finish announced the brilliant news that their licence to produce Doctor Who audios has been extended through to the end of 2014, meaning they will be bringing us more brilliant audio adventures for a long while yet. They also gave a little hint about what is in store for us until then.

Big Finish is delighted to announce that its licence with AudioGO to make Doctor Who on audio has been extended for another two years, up to December 2014.

“Doctor Who and the associated spin-off series have always been the cornerstone of the Big Finish audio ranges,” says executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. “We all greatly enjoy working on Doctor Who and it is great to see that AudioGO have shown such confidence in our contribution to the franchise by giving us this two year extension on our license”.

"We've had a fantastic working relationship with AudioGO," adds executive producer Nick Briggs. "So we're very much looking forward to continuing that."

“The great news means that we can plan for the next three and a half years,” adds line producer David Richardson, “and there’s so much to look forward to.

“In addition to the Doctor Who Main Range and Companion Chronicles, there will be a fourth season of The Lost Stories, fourth and fifth seasons of Jago and Litefoot… and we’ll be launching a brand new Doctor Who spin-off series too.

“Plus there’s The Fourth Doctor Adventures starring Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Mary Tamm and John Leeson. It’s never felt more exciting!”

For all your audio news and reviews of the latest releases, make sure you check in at The Doctor In The TARDIS Forum

Torchwood on the radio

The BBC Press Office has announced that from Monday July 11th to Wednesday July 13th three Torchwood audio dramas will be aired on Radio 4 at 2.15pm. Each drama will be approximately 45 minutes long.

Set before the events of 'Children of Earth', the dramas will see John Barrowman, Eve Myles & Gareth David-Lloyd reprise their roles as Jack, Gwen & Ianto.

They have also provided the following information about the three dramas:

In the first of three Torchwood stories, when Rhys's elderly Uncle Bryn has a heart attack while listening to the shipping forecast, it seems like another routine death at Ivyday Nursing Home. Until Gwen's suspicions are roused by another elderly resident ...

In Tuesday's story, a distress signal lures Jack, Gwen and Ianto to the deepest part of the ocean – the Mariana Trench – and they find themselves trapped with a hungry alien.

In Wednesday's Torchwood, it's the last night at the House Of The Dead, the most haunted pub in Wales, and Mrs Wintergreen is holding a seance. Then the ghosts start arriving, and all hell breaks loose.

The three stories have been given the umbrella title of Torchwood: The Lost Files.

Review: I, Davros - Purity

Following on from Peri's review of part one, I, Davros - Innocence, today we bring to you the second part of the series, Purity.

The Daleks have listened to Davros's story and dismiss him as just an inferior child, but he believes he was more of a man than those who surrounded him. The Council of Twelve, busy passing their judgements in the House of Congress, never saw what was coming because they were too scared of his intelligence, aptitude and determination. It would be many years before the Supremo, that weak, spineless individual who believed he ruled the city, would finally enable Davros to realise his potential. Until then it was only Davros's mother who believed in him. The rest of them feared him, and they were right to do so...

This story isnt a direct continuation of the first story, though it does tie in nicely with previous events. First off I am going to say that if you havent listened to the first then this is ok to listen to and understand but there will be things in it that you probably wont get because they reference the first audio as apposed to stuff you may have seen on screen.

So we rejoin Davros as he get nearer to his 30th birthday. Miserable in the Kaled military he is longing to join the Science Corps in a bid to extend his works and use his knowledge for the good of the Kaled/Thal war. When Davros is summoned before the Supremo he initially begins an egotistical rant about how he is better than most of his superiors and is being unfairly held back from helping the war effort in a more scientific way, but the Supremo surprises him by saying that his work has actually been monitered in a very close way and that he wants Davros to undertake a secret mission that could help the Kaleds win the war against the Thals. He won't reveal what the mission is but says that Davros's position in the Science Corps will be pretty much secured if he accepts, albeit within the recycling division. Davros accepts straight away but the Supremo tells him to sleep on it before agreeing.

When Davros goes home he encounters his sister and after a conversation about genocide and extinct races as casualties of war, his sister becomes more wary of him and convinced that he is becoming a psychopath who will bring disaster and distruction because of his beliefs that the Thals should be iradicated. His sister tries to explain that the Thals and Kaleds once lived together in peace and could do so again, but Davros is convinced she is lying and dismisses her as needed therapy. When his mother arrives home she stirs up the pot by saying that the recent peace is a bad thing and the Thals, being a lower class as she considers, should be wiped out, fuelling Davros' fire. There is also a hint that his family think he may be gay as up to now he has refused to get a wife, which his family needs to happen so they can have access to the family trust fund which is currently held in his name. When Davros accidently lets slip about his secret mission, the family is torn about the best interests of him and their lifestyle. He realises though he has said too much and refuses to say anymore.

Im skipping a fair bit here which is mainly character stuff and fastforwarding to this: Davros accepts the mission and along with his team makes his way over enemy lines. When they happen upon a weapons factory, Davros and anothermember of his group break inside and take pictures and evidence. They realise the expense that went into the factory and that just destroying it would cripple the Thals, but they are soon captured and one of the Thals knows Davros by name. Before any questioning can take place though Davros' Major shoots the Thals and saves them. While on their way from the Thal city they are attacked by snipers and Varga Plants and very few of their number are left surviving. Davros works out that the whole mission has been a set up and demands to know whether the intention was to have him killed. When they are backed into a corner by a group of scavengers, two of the four remaining soldiers are killed and it is left to Davros and his friend Reston to make their way home. (Ive missed out a big spoiler here that links back to the first audio). When they reach the home lines, Reston is badly wounded by their own defense systems and begs Davros to end his life. Davros at first is reluctant to kill his friend but then becomes so enraged that this man doesnt want to live at absolutely any cost, that he angrilly takes his pistol and kills him anyway.

We cut to Davros in the hospital after being rescued and where he is being visited by his mother. At first he is convinced that it was she who betrayed his mission, but after being persuaded otherwise and ruling out the Supremo, he decides that it must have been his sister. His mother fuels this belief and agrees to sort the situation. She returns home and finds his sister in the pool and tells her that Davros has died over enemy lines. She convinces her that if she gave the game away about his mission then she is now safe to admit it. His sister admits that she was scared of Davros and only wants peace and so mentioned it to some of her Peace Treaty friends but never wanted him dead. His mum accuses her of being a threat to Davros' greatness and proceeds to drown her in the pool. When she next visits Davros she tells him that she found her daughter drowing in the pool and that her last words were that she loved her. They agree to put word out that she has been murdered by rebel Thals.

At the end of the story Davros is standing over the body of his dead sister preparing her autopsy. He leans in and tells her corpse that despite her hatred of science she will make a great contribution. He cuts into her body and plans to combine her genetic makeup with that of a Thal and a Varga Plant to make the greatest weapon the planet has ever seen....

Ok, this story is brilliant. There isnt a whole lot more that I can add. Ive cut out a massive section of it to keep it spoiler free but the gist of it is there. At 70 minutes this story is absolutely jam packed with story and quite honestly could have been split into two. For those of you who like it dark, this is possibly the darkest audio adventure I have ever listened to. At times spine tingling, at times just down right creepy, this story goes to places you wouldnt expect of a DW related release but is pure brilliance. Whether you are a fan of Davros or not, you cant fail to be taken in with this story and its even better if you have listened to part one as well. The back story of the Varga Plants which I have largely left out of this review, is also really unnerving. Get this! Thats all I have to say.

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Review: The Power Of The Daleks Audio

Todays forum review comes courtesy of VampyrosAdric and covers the missing story audio, The Power Of The Daleks.

 

In many ways I'm being a bit naughty with this review. It is (for the time being) out of production and is only available second hand (at least on Amazon). It is, however, a wonderful sparkling debut performance by the Second Doctor. So on with the show and the bumpf from the back of the box so we're all on the same page!

The first Doctor becomes the second in this exclusive recording of Doctor Who s original regeneration story, starring Patrick Troughton, with linking narration by Anneke Wills I ve been renewed...without it I couldn t survive. Before the astonished eyes of his companions Ben and Polly, the Doctor s whole body has apparently been transformed. Now they are confronted by a stranger who claims to be their old friend but how can they know whether to trust him? The TARDIS s arrival on the swamp planet of Vulcan brings its own problems; the Doctor is mistaken for an official come to solve the Earth colony s in-fighting, and soon he and his companions are embroiled in political wranglings. However, a far more serious threat lurks within the colony. The scientist Lesterson has discovered a crashed space capsule, within it a group of inert metallic creatures which the Doctor identifies as Daleks. Refusing to heed the Doctor s warnings, Lesterson supplies power to the Daleks and revives them. The awakened Daleks claim to be faithful servants of humanity but could such a thing ever be possible? By covert means they seek an increasing level of energy, but for what? By the time the Doctor and his friends discover the Daleks true plan for the colony, it looks as if it might already be too late to stop them...Anneke Wills, who plays Polly in the story, narrates this debut story for the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, first broadcast in 1966 and long since missing from the television archives

It is difficult for us who are familiar with (and excited by) the concept of regeneration to contemplate just what a crisis the decision of Bill Hartnell to leave the show was. The show was still popular so they decided to recast - but them came the next question, how to explain the appearance of a new actor. Thus was born the brilliant concept of regeneration. A concept so infused with genius that it kept the show fresh for decades. This story, important alone as a historical curio, gains even more mythical status by remaining impenetrably and entirely missing from the BBC Archives. Some stories (Tomb of the Cybermen etc) have popped up. But this one, remains resolutely lost.

Some things, like urinary tract infections, when they go missing you don't really miss them. Others, like Ice Cream, are very much missed and you welcome them back like an old friend. But some things are so precious, like good nights out or a particularly funny joke, that are magical and mystical and you know they'll never come back. Power of the Daleks is one such thing. It is a wonderful tale - written not (as you might expect) by Terror Nation, but instead penned by former Script Doctor, David Whittaker. Unusually for a Whittaker script, it is based on a relatively straightforward premise - Daleks pretending to be nice to get hooked up to the mains so they can reproduce. Yet it works on so many layers. Instead of trying to hoodwink an audience not used to regeneration, the script actually plays on the discomfort of not knowing this apparent impostor. Added to this, "The Doctor" takes on the identity of "The Examiner" to further obfuscate and mislead.

This story is a triumph for Troughton. He sparkles like a cosmic sprite, the dialogue is (unusually for a BBC script of the time) snappy and witty. Both Michael Craze and Anneke Wills provide good support and the ensemble players all have great fun snarling at each other. The missing recording has two different versions. The early one (only available on cassette tape) has linking narration by Tom Baker (which is frankly bizarre but hugely enjoyable). This one, though, has polished links provided by Anneke Wills and together with some clever knob twiddling by the restoration yoda, Mark Ayres, this recording is about as close as we're going to get to capturing the magic of the very first regeneration story.

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